To Be With You
by SpareShiro2018
Summary: Season 8 had us all suffering at the hands of Dreamworks. They surprised us with their unfortunate ending of the series, and so many of us are still sitting here disappointed. What if it was never Lance and Allura's ending but Lance and Keith's instead, like so many were hoping for? Here's a rewrite of Season 8 with our favorite boys. *ROMANCE, HURT/COMFORT, HUMOR, GENERAL*
1. Launch Date?

*** Requested fanfiction by Shiranai Atsune * I hope you all enjoy this rewrite of Season 8 :)**

* * *

"Don't you just love how everyone's rooting for Keith and Allura to finally hook?"

"Mmn."

"Hey, Lance, I bought a goat and named it after you."

"Mmn."

"Lance?"

"Mmn?"

"What's on your mind?" Hunk leans a little closer over the table as Pidge continues to bomb the boy. "You've been acting this way ever since we sat down for lunch. Wanna spill the juice?"

Lance slouches on his hand and gently shakes his head. He'd been moping for hours because Keith and Allura had been the hype for the last couple of days. "Sorry. Just don't feel well." After saying that, he stands up and heads toward his room.

* * *

 _Kallura… Kallura… Kallura… That's what they call it. That's what they call the so-called "romance" between them. No one ever talks about me and Keith. Never even bothered thinking about it. And maybe that's how it's bound to stay._

A gentle knock is heard at the door, and Lance quickly puts away his pen and journal before turning to face the opening door. It's Keith.

 _Great._

"Hey," Keith quietly mutters, taking a seat on the bedside next to Lance. "Heard you've been a little… _down_ these past few days. Thought I'd see what's up."

As Lance avoids eye contact, Keith takes a quick note of the clutteredness of the room. "Your room is a mess, Lance." His hand moves to the man's shoulder and comfortably rests there. The sad look in Keith's eyes says more than it needs to.

Lance stares at the floor. "Keith, I…" He swallows and then faultlessly looks into Keith's blue-gray eyes. "I think I'm coming down with a really bad cold."

An amused, almost relieved grin comes onto the man's face, and his hand slips from Lance's shoulder down to the bed cover. "Then you better get some hot cocoa or something."

Lance waves it off as he forcefully coughs in another direction. He lets out a choked "It'd only burn my throat".

"Fine," says Keith as he gets to his feet, "I'll get you some Hall's." He opens the door to leave, but first asks, "Red's your favorite, right?"

"Yeah." Lance responds, quickly fixing it up with a weaker 'Yeah' to further convince his friend. Keith shakes his head with a smirk and closes the door after himself.

 _Holy shit. Kill me now._

* * *

The next day started alright for poor Lance. Last night Keith had come into his room with some red Hall's and a warm smile. Even though Lance tried to act like it meant nothing, he treasured every single moment. However, when he walks into the Garrison cafeteria just now, his eyes fall on the table of hunched friends. Keith is inside the circle.

"Ask her already, you wimp!" Pidge laughs as she teasingly punches Keith in the arm.

Lance's sister, Veronica, studies Keith with utter glee. "We all know you two are… _a thing_."

The Cuban man wasn't all that certain of it, but from what he could pick out, Keith seemed to be low-key pissed off. As in, he seriously wanted to be left alone. _Maybe I'm just being too optimistic,_ Lance thinks.

Like always nowadays, Keith tries to cover everything up with a smile. He tiredly whines as he begins searching for an excuse to escape the nagging. While he's scanning the room, he meets Lance's fixed gaze, which only asks for attention. In fact, the whole table becomes quiet and watches Lance standing there by his lonesome, a sad tray of food in his shaky hands.

He gives them a tiny wave of his hand before turning one-eighty and walking back to his bedroom, his new favorite place to hide out. There, he puts his food tray down and flings himself onto his bed. _Why? Why did I have to find love where it wasn't supposed to be? Everyone will hate me for it. But I… These feelings. They can't stop. They won't stop. Ever since my first days in the Garrison, Keith has been an influence in my life. Yes, I always covered it up by yelling at him, but that doesn't mean I hate him. In fact, I really love him. A lot. And it won't end._

* * *

Pidge throws her hands up into the air in frustration. "He didn't do it! He didn't ask her out." She plays with her spoon in her bowl of pudding while Lance reads a book. "How can you be so calm about it, Lance?!"

He shrugs and mumbles, "I'm not really into that juicy stuff."

She gawks at this and glances at Hunk before slowly saying, "You… are the last one I'd expect to say that." This earns her a quick, dull look from Lance as he turns a page.

"If there's something up, Lance," mutters Hunk in his gentle, trademark voice, "we're always here." He takes his chocolate chip cookie from off his plate and holds it out to the boy. "Cookie?"

Lance looks up from his book at Hunk, pulls off a small, sad grin, and takes the cookie. "Thanks."

* * *

"What are your thoughts on our sexy warrior boy?" Romelle chants, her head cupped in her hands as a goofy grin comes up on her face. Allura is surrounded by the Garrison girls, all of them with a nagging smile or giggle.

Veronica plays with her silver ring, trying to imitate the well-known "Lord of the Rings Frodo ring spin". "You _do_ like him, right?"

The Altean princess shrugs and looks out the window. "He's a good man, but I'm not sure if I see him in _that_ way…" The group is shocked. "And I'm sure he has someone else on his mind than me."

Rizavi laughs and shakes her head from side to side. "Someone else? What's better than a little spice between two Paladins?" She gets several head nods from other girls.

"Please, girls," Allura mutters with a sigh, "if you're trying to set anything up with me and Keith, it isn't worth your time. I don't have romantic feelings for him, and neither does he for me." She stands up and trots off down the hall, leaving the girls alone with an awkward silence.

Rizavi sucks in a harsh breath. "Did I say too much...?"

* * *

 _Knock, knock._

"Who is it?"

"Me, Keith."

Lance sighs before tiredly mumbling, "Come on in."

Keith walks into the still-messy room, a determined yet exhausted furrow of his brows showing. "Lance, I need your help."

"What is it?" he quietly answers, peeling another one of his favorite red Hall's out of its wrapper.

"I need someplace to hide."

Lance's eyebrows shoot up. "Why…? And why _here_?" The groan Keith lets out explains enough. "Okay, okay, you can stay." A couple moments pass before the corner of Keith's mouth turns up, making Lance awfully uncomfortable. "What?!"

"But I thought you were sick."

A hot flush rises to Lance's cheeks as he throws the Hall's into his mouth and then proceeds to nearly choke on it.

" _LANCE!_ " Keith quickly pats Lance's back to help out, and the tiny square Hall's soon pops out and onto the floor. He lets out a relieved sigh. "You idiot."


	2. Accident, My Ass!

It should've been plain to Lance as to why Keith had wanted to come to his room. First and foremost, he wished to escape the never-ending pestering about asking out Allura; and second, to finally catch up with his friend. After all, the mess they'd been through with the Galra fleets had come in between good leisure time. Keith can't even seem to recall the last time he sat down with Lance and engaged in a healthy conversation.

He runs a hand through his long hair and lets out a long sigh. "I never did tell you about my life before the Garrison, did I?"

Lance simply grins. "Let me guess… You were a pain in the ass?"

"No comment." Keith chuckles, a soft glow coming to life in his eyes. "This one time… it was my dad and I." His gaze remains on the picture frame sitting on Lance's desk. "He loved to garden, even though he didn't look the type."

Next to him, Lance gives a silly smirk, his eyes quickly dodging Keith's. His arms stretch out behind him more comfortably, whereas Keith remains resting his arms on his legs, crouched forward. "And how's that?" Lance asks.

"His build was suitable for something else, like constructing." He gently smiles to himself. "Mum didn't mind that he spent his time gardening. Especially since he brought me along."

Considering how secret Keith's personal life had always been, this was a great way to spark Lance back up after all the jealousy. Besides, if there even was anything with Allura and Keith, would he have told her about his past so soon? Bet money on it that he wouldn't.

Lance gets up from his slouch, eyeing his friend on the way up. "Heck, then maybe you could show me a thing or two sometime. I've always wanted to try it out."

Keith frowns, confused. "What, gardening? You?"

The Paladin sighs. "Don't sound too excited."

All of a sudden, a knock is heard at Lance's bedroom door. The eyes of the two boys quickly dart to each other before the one shoves the other into his closet. Nervously, Lance calls back to the stranger at the door. "Hello?"

The handle moves as the door is pushed open. Lance is shocked to see Allura holding a cup of hot chocolate. She looks a little tired, but apparently still up for a chat. "Mind if I join you?"

He shakes his head, even though he wasn't all that keen on her coming in at the time. She softly smiles before placing the mug into Lance's hands. "I thought you might want some."

"Thanks." he replies.

The girl gets comfortable beside Lance, right where Keith was just sitting for a while. Lance can't help but prefer the latter: the goof currently trapped in his closet.

Apart from the warm wafts of hot cocoa, Lance could easily pick out the nice peach scent coming from Allura's clothes. He wouldn't be surprised if someone wanted to date her solely for that.

"I've noticed that you've been acting a little different these past couple of days… Maybe longer." Allura's body language is much more straightforward than Keith's; instead of avoiding the other's gaze, she dives right into his quiet hazel eyes. "Is there something you want to talk about? You know I'm always here for you."

Lance gives her a small grin to hopefully convince her it's alright. "Just been tired."

She doesn't buy that shit so easily.

Her hand rests on Lance's as she gazes at his face. "Please, Lance…"

The young man quickly pulls his hand out from under Allura. Staring at his motionless feet, he mumbles, "It's… personal."

To be honest, Allura looks quite hurt at hearing this. Besides, why would he react so harshly? It's not like him. She decides against pressing on and stands up, heading towards the door. Soon, Allura stops in her tracks. "Lance?" she quietly mutters.

He glances up to briefly look her in the face. "Hm?"

"You should at least try to open up to someone. It doesn't have to be me." With that, she then grabs the door handle to leave the room.

 _Creeakk…_

...What the heck was that?

Instinctively, Allura frowns and slowly glances over at her friend sitting on the bed. "Where'd that sound come from?" It certainly wasn't the door.

The sudden heavy pounding of his head makes it hard for poor Lance to focus. "No idea!"

Suddenly she gasps. "What if we have a critter infestation?!"

Lance decides to immediately turn that down. "Oh, it must've been my closet! It's been doing that creaking on its own recently." _Keith, for shit's sake…!_

The girl seems to be very relieved. "Alright," she pulls the door back open. "Let me know if it keeps doing that. We could always get it fixed or replaced."

Lance nods. "Okay. Thanks, Allura."

She smiles before shutting the bedroom door behind herself.

Lance waits a couple of seconds just to be safe… then he gloriously leaps toward the closet and yanks it open. Keith looks like he's about to burst; he's laughing so much. A pink flush comes onto Lance's embarrassed face as Keith goes on about it: "'It's been doing that creaking recently'!"

"Listen, you're the one who made that freaking noise!" Lance repels, jabbing a frustrated finger at Keith.

"Come on, it was an accident," he answers, giving a little shrug.

Lance sarcastically smiles. "Yeah, sure. 'Accident' my ass."

The grin on Keith's face slowly disappears as the atmosphere becomes more serious. "Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

His night-blue eyes meet hazel ones after adjusting Lance's sweater. "You can open up whenever you feel it's right."

The sudden change of heartbeat throws off the poor flustered boy. He can't help but unintentionally spurt out: "T...Tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

Lance doesn't dare look up, so he keeps his eyes on the floor. "You and me. Dinner tomorrow night?" His clammy hands hold each other as he waits for a response. "We could… talk."

It takes a moment or two, but soon Lance gets an answer. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow night at seven." There's a bright smile painted across Keith's face by the time Lance looks up. He receives a pat on the shoulder before Keith leaves the room. A shy grin easily comes onto each of their faces once the other is gone.

Shit is really going to go down tomorrow night. The two of them both know it. Not only that, but they're looking forward to it.


	3. Smoofy?

"'Kay, you really need to tell us what's going on," Pidge mutters as she pokes at her mashed potato lunch with a fork. "Otherwie I'll seriously refer you to some doctor."

Lance doesn't answer, other than showing with his shoulders in a shrug that it's really not all that serious. This time, however, is different. He can't stop moving his foot. The pounding of his heart and the flutter of his stomach makes his appetite go on leave. Underneath his skin, he wears a big smug grin. _I'm going on a date with Keith._

He gets up in a hurry, taking his untouched tray with him as he tells them he'll "see them later". He had to get everything together in time for seven o'clock.

Beforehand, Keith had texted Lance the details for that night, including which restaurant they'd meet at and who would pay. To start, Keith had offered, but Lance - being his insistent self - helped them come to the agreement that both of them would pitch in.

Just as Lance steps out of his room all dressed up in best clothes, he's met face-to-face with Pidge and Razavi. He looks the two of them up and down as they do the same. "Is there something you guys need...?" he asks with uncertainty.

All of a sudden the two girls whip to look at each other; Pidge gasps and Razavi lets out a squeal. " _YOU'RE GOING ON A DATE WITH ALLURA?!_ " they banshee-screech.

To avoid any more attention, Lance gives them a fake smile and proceeds to slip past them and down the hall. Luckily for Lance, they're both far too distracted to interrogate him. "PALADIN LOVE TRIANGLE!" Lance can hear Razavi and Pidge's synchronized woop, following a loud high-five. _They can believe what they want,_ thinks Lance as he walks out the Garrison doors and over to his car. _It's better than them knowing the truth._

* * *

Lance arrives at _L'Arôme de Nourriture_ with half an hour to spare. He decides to get a hold of a table-for-two, stop by the washroom, and attempt making an origami napkin surprise for Keith. (...It sorta worked.)

At last, it's seven o'clock - twelve minutes past, actually - and Keith still hasn't shown up. _Maybe he never meant to show up._

When the time passes seven thirty, he chooses to leave the restaurant and return to the Garrison. Besides, what's the point of eating at a table-for-two when you're alone?

During his drive back home, he hears a ping of a text from his phone. He ignores it to start until he hears several more back-to-back pings. As he comes to a stop at a red light, he pulls out his phone and frowns while reading over the messages.

 **GAH, SORRY LANCE**

 **CORAN KEPT ME BACK**

 **STILL HERE**

 **TRAINING RN**

 **WANNA JOIN ME?**

 **I SWEAR I'LL PAY FOR ALL OF DINNER NEXT**

 **HOLY SHIT PLS LANCE**

 **WHAT R U DOING RN?!**

 **ACK GTG**

 _That complete son of a..._

* * *

Coran cocks his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's the matter, Lance? You _do_ know you're training is scheduled for tomorrow, right?"

Keith halts his chin-ups at the sound of Lance's name and drops lightly on the mat below himself. He walks over to Lance with a grin, holding out a sweaty hand for a bro-shake, which Lance walks straight past and toward the mini boxing ring - recently installed by Coran. Lance turns his head to look Keith in the face. A tiny smirk creeps onto both of their faces, and they take a moment to get their giggles out before competing.

Keith shakes his head and stares at the ground, his face warm from laughing. "You're scared."

Immediately, Lance scoffs and confidently places his hands on his hips. "Scared? In your dreams, Keith." He raises his gloved fists, takes a deep breath, and looks into his opponent's determined eyes. A lively spark in them takes hold of Lance's attention in a flash.

"You ready?" asks Keith.

"Uh-huh."

The first thirty seconds mostly involved the two of them shuffling around the ring, watching each other's hands and feet, taking a few swings when possible. Lance throws a powerful kick, which Keith swiftly dodges and then returns it with a good butterfly-kick in the gut. The poor kid crumbles to the floor and curls up in agony.

" _SHIT_!" Keith dashes over to Lance's side in a heartbeat. ...Man, it would have been the perfect scene: the long-time crush comfortably sitting beside him, his hand gently holding his arm. Ha! If only. "Do you need ice?"

Of course Lance waves it off. He shakes his head and wheezes out, "I'm all good." Why'd he want to act like some hopeless, injured animal?

" _CORAN!_ " his friend shouts, ignoring Lance's persistence. "Could you grab an ice pack for Lance? Oh, and Smoofy!"

Lance miraculously has the energy to turn and mutter: "Smoofy?!"

"Anything for our Sharpshooter!" Coran answers and then darts out of the gym. Keith keeps his hand on Lance's arm, but can't help letting out a chuckle.

"HOW IS THIS FUNNY?!" Lance shrieks at him. His dry throat causes him to go out into a coughing fit.

Keith grins. "Shut up. Otherwise you'll never stop coughing all over me." In satisfaction he runs a hand through his messy black hair. Instead of his genius plan to brutally elbow Keith in the gut til he begs for mercy, he starts to think to himself. He wonders if Keith is growing out his hair. I mean, it wouldn't come as a surprise. _Oh, a man bun._ "Your silence is worrying me."

"Hauh? Oh. Uhm..." Lance points at his friend's locks with a little grin. "How long are you planning to grow your hair?"

"Oh, my g- CORAN! Finally, you're here." He snatches the ice pack and immediately puts it into Lance's hand. "Because ice makes everything better. Put it where you need it." Then Keith hands him a squishy stuffed bunny: Smoofy. "And take this. He likes snuggles."

"Awh thank- HEY! KEITH, PUT ME DOWN!"

Keith scrunches up his nose and shakes his head. "Nah." He walks toward the gym exit with a squirming Lance in his arms, who eventually has to give up and instead enjoy the moment. Once they're out of the sweaty gym, Keith places Lance back on the ground. He looks him in the eye and says, "Thanks for the date, Sharpshooter."

Blood immediately rushes to Lance's face, and his heart nearly pounds out of his chest. "D... What?!" Keith smirks and waves him off as he makes his way past Lance.

What the heck?!


End file.
